After operating five months with interim compliance leadership, Credit Suisse has named a new chief compliance officer.
Rafael Lopez Lorenzo will assume the role effective Oct. 1, the bank announced Wednesday. Lorenzo has been with Credit Suisse since 2015, currently serving as global head of group internal audit. He will join the bank’s executive board and report directly to Credit Suisse Group CEO Thomas Gottstein.
Lorenzo succeeds Thomas Grotzer, who has led the bank’s compliance function on an interim basis since April following the departure of former Chief Risk and Compliance Officer Lara Warner. Warner, along with Investment Bank CEO Brian Chin, left in the wake of massive losses caused by the collapses of Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital.
Credit Suisse subsequently separated head of risk and head of compliance into two positions, recently announcing the hiring of Goldman Sachs veteran David Wildermuth to take over as chief risk officer by February 2022.
An independent report commissioned by Credit Suisse concluded the bank’s Archegos missteps were “the result of a fundamental failure of management and controls” at its Investment Bank. Credit Suisse fired nine employees and issued financial penalties to 14 others as a result.
In announcing Lorenzo’s appointment, the bank stated his “leadership, experience and deep understanding of the bank’s processes and challenges in the third line of defense will be key in leading the future Compliance function. In addition, Rafael has played a pivotal role in the review of recent incidents.”
Before joining Credit Suisse, Lorenzo served in multiple positions of audit leadership at JPMorgan Chase in New York and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also worked as a senior associate consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in global risk management solutions.
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